The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office launched its fifth countywide drug roundup in the Sheriff John Ingram administration Monday morning, this one dubbed Operation Bad Candy.

Agents with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office and Ocean Isle Beach Police officers searched for more than 50 suspects wanted for various violations of the North Carolina Controlled Substances Act beginning around 6 a.m. Monday.

After several concerned residents called the sheriff’s office after receiving automated calls about an endangered missing person, sheriff’s office officials want to confirm it was the sheriff’s office calling, not a fraudulent agency.

Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. April Stanley said the sheriff’s office used the 911 center’s Reverse 911 system Friday night to alert people of an endangered missing person.

Two suspects were arrested Saturday, Oct. 9, for breaking into a Supply business.

According to Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Sgt. April Stanley, two suspects forced their way into Beach Realty, 3247 Holden Beach Road, Supply, between the evening of Friday, Oct. 8, and Saturday, Oct. 9.

About $150 worth of property was damaged and another $500 worth of property was stolen from the business, Stanley said.

The Aggressive Criminal Enforcement (ACE) Team is a support unit, whose primary functions are traffic enforcement and assisting in the apprehension of drug traffickers in the county. The ACE team conducts driving while impaired and driver’s license checkpoints, as well as street-level investigations on controlled substances.
The ACE team works with the sheriff’s office K-9 Enforcement Team and Drug Enforcement Unit to apprehend narcotics suspects as well as saturating hot spots where criminal activity is reported.

Someone obtained credit-card numbers and information of a Sandpiper Bay resident. The resident’s bank’s fraud department contacted her and told her someone had tried to use her card online, which was flagged.

The victim stated she had not made the orders. A phone number used in the attempted transactions was that of another Sunset Beach resident who was not involved in the misuse of credit-card information.